Introduction
Manufacture of jewelry can be done using a lost wax process. In such process, a plurality of wax patterns, also referred to herein as wax models, are formed, each representing a jewelry item to be manufactured. The wax patterns are aggregated to form a tree and the tree is placed in a flask. The flask is filled with investment (a plaster-like material) and the wax melted out to form a mold. The mold is filled with a metal alloy that forms the jewelry items. After the metal alloy hardens, it is removed form the mold and each jewelry item removed from the tree.
As a predicate to the lost wax process (also referred to as “lost wax burnout” and “lost wax investment” processes), a wax pattern must be made. Commonly, wax patterns have been made by forming a mold and then putting molten wax in the mold to harden to form the pattern. Forming wax patterns using a mold has inherent limitations. For example, the toolpath for the mold must have cuts that allow the wax pattern to pull away from the mold. Because of limitations in formation, the pattern cannot have undercuts, thin wires, filigree, beads, hollow areas, etc.
An alternative method for manufacturing a wax pattern is using a rapid prototying (RP) process. In rapid prototyping, a digital image is converted into a physical product by printing layers of wax on a substrate using a solid wax modeling machine or other similar RP technology. The digital image may be a CAD (computer aided design) image. In the past, it has been difficult to apply rapid prototyping to mass produced personalized jewelry items such as class rings because automation software needed to meet production capacity requirements does not readily exist, level of detail requirements can not be met, and RP materials are typically polymer-based. Polymers do not perform as well as wax-like materials during the lost-wax burnout process.